One in four UK managers regularly thinks about leaving their job because of the pressure and stress of managing people, despite the vast majority saying they enjoy being a manager, new research reveals.
New research from HR and payroll software provider Ciphr has found that 25% of UK managers think about leaving their jobs most or all of the time because of the pressure or stress associated with managing people. Almost a third (31%) intend to leave their organisation within the next 12 months, while another 15% remain undecided.
Yet the findings do not suggest managers simply dislike managing. Managers may like their jobs and enjoy leading their teams, but many are also feeling overstretched, stressed and increasingly tempted to leave.
In fact, 84% say they like or love the work they do, while 85% say they like being a people manager. Most also feel capable of doing the job. Some 80% feel confident in their ability to manage their team most or all of the time, while 75% are confident they have a high-performing team.
Nearly three-quarters find their jobs meaningful (74%) and engaging (72%) most or all of the time. The problem appears to be less about whether managers want to manage people – and more about the pressure organisations are placing on them while they do it.
MANAGERS LIKE MANAGING BUT MANY ARE OVERSTRETCHED
Almost a third (31%) of managers say their workload is unmanageable most or all of the time, while 26% feel stressed most or all of the time. The pressure is also spilling beyond normal working hours. During the previous six months:
- 60% have worked during evenings or weekends;
- 40% have worked through illness rather than taking time off to recover; and
- 33% say work has negatively affected their health or wellbeing.
Many managers have already raised concerns. Some 42% have spoken to their boss about the size of their workload during the past six months, while 35% have discussed their stress levels or wellbeing. But for a significant proportion, the pressure is prompting them to contemplate leaving altogether. One in four regularly thinks about quitting specifically because of the stress or pressure of managing people. And 31% say they intend to leave their organisation during the next year.
The findings echo previous research showing that a quarter of UK employees overall planned to change jobs this year, with workers citing factors including feeling undervalued, poor leadership, stress and unmanageable workloads. The latest research suggests employers may now need to pay particular attention to the people responsible for managing those employees.
DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE
Managing people inevitably involves conversations that can be uncomfortable. According to Ciphr, having difficult conversations is the single most commonly cited challenge of being a people manager, identified by 32% of those surveyed. The biggest challenges are:
- Having difficult conversations – 32%
- Increased stress – 30%
- Managing grievances, disciplinary procedures, dismissals or redundancies – 25%
- Managing challenging or problematic behaviour within the team – 24%
- More meetings – 21%
- Extra administration and workload – 21%
- Enforcing policies, rules, ways of working or business decisions they don’t agree with – 20%
- Managing unrealistic expectations from their boss or leadership – 19%
- Absence management – 19%
- Mediating interpersonal friction or conflict – 18%
- Giving and receiving critical feedback – 18%
Those findings are particularly significant as the manager’s role becomes more complex. Recent global research found that only four in 10 managers feel adequately prepared for difficult conversations involving AI anxiety, layoffs and workplace conflict. That study found a substantial gap between organisational perceptions and managers’ experiences. While 97% of HR professionals believed organisations provided adequate preparation for difficult conversations, only 41% of people managers agreed.
CAUGHT BETWEEN ORGANISATIONAL PRIORITIES & EMPLOYEE EXPECTATIONS
It also found 72% of people managers regularly feel caught between organisational priorities and employee expectations. Taken together, the findings suggest managers are increasingly becoming the human interface between difficult business decisions and the employees affected by them.
They may be expected to communicate restructures, address performance, manage absence, support wellbeing, resolve conflict, implement policies they did not design and help employees navigate workplace change – while continuing to deliver their own operational responsibilities.
BURNOUT IS PARTICULARLY HIGH AMONG YOUNGER MANAGERS
Ciphr’s findings also point to substantial levels of burnout. Some 74% of managers aged 25 to 34 say they have felt burnt out or in need of a complete break from work during the past year. The proportion declines with age but remains significant:
- 74% of 25- to 34-year-olds
- 64% of 35- to 44-year-olds
- 57% of 45- to 54-year-olds
- 45% of managers aged over 55
The age findings should be interpreted cautiously because they relate to subgroups within the overall sample of 500 managers rather than separate nationally representative samples of each age group. Nevertheless, the overall wellbeing picture aligns with broader evidence of growing workplace pressure.
Recent Mental Health Foundation research found that more than one in five UK workers now experience poor mental health, with millions saying their job leaves them stressed or unhappy most or all of the time. That research highlighted excessive workloads and under-resourcing as organisational risks rather than problems that should simply be addressed through individual resilience.
The same principle applies to managers. Training managers to cope with pressure may help, but it cannot compensate indefinitely for workloads or organisational structures that make the job itself unsustainable.
MANAGERS ARE BEING ASKED TO DO MORE WITH LESS
“Managers are often being asked to achieve more with less budget and resources,” said Claire Hawes, Chief People and Operations Officer at Ciphr. “They need to support their team’s development and wellbeing, while being accountable for their performance and productivity. The time and energy involved in balancing the people management side of their jobs with their other duties isn’t always acknowledged. And that can lead to increased stress too.”
This tension is becoming increasingly important as workplaces undergo rapid technological, demographic and organisational change. Managers are not only responsible for traditional performance management. They are increasingly expected to support employee wellbeing, lead teams through restructures, navigate hybrid working, manage conflict, develop skills and help employees adapt to AI and changing jobs.
And the challenge extends beyond managing technological change. Separate Ciphr and ProAge research reported by Fair Play Talks found that fewer than one in four organisations believe their managers are very confident leading multigenerational teams, despite nearly nine in 10 recognising the benefits of age-diverse workforces.
That research found just 23% of organisations said managers were very confident leading age-diverse teams, while half described them as only “somewhat confident”. It highlighted a recurring concern: managers are increasingly expected to navigate complex people challenges without always receiving sufficient training, tools or support.
Fair Play Talks has also reported that only four in 10 managers feel adequately prepared for difficult conversations involving AI anxiety, layoffs and workplace conflict. Taken together, the findings suggest the scope of people management is expanding – from multigenerational teams and employee wellbeing to AI transformation, restructures and increasingly difficult workplace conversations – while manager capability, time and support are not necessarily keeping pace.
WHAT WOULD MAKE MANAGERS’ JOBS BETTER?
Ciphr also asked managers what would help them enjoy their roles more. Their answers suggest the solution is not simply more resilience training or wellbeing initiatives. The most frequently requested improvement is less unnecessary bureaucracy. Almost one in four – 24% – say reducing red tape or excessive bureaucratic processes would make managing people more enjoyable.
Managers also want:
- Higher wages – 22%
- More management and leadership training – 20%
- More effective support from senior leadership – 20%
- Fewer and shorter meetings – 19%
- Less unrealistic targets – 19%
- Less administration and low-value busywork – 18%
- More health and wellbeing support specifically for managers – 17%
The findings suggest organisations need to consider the design of the manager’s job, rather than assuming the answer lies solely in helping individuals become better at coping with it. “The message to employers is clear: They need to ensure more manageable workloads and provide further support and training for their managers, or risk losing them to other organisations that will,” said Hawes.
MANAGER WELLBEING AFFECTS THE WHOLE TEAM
The consequences of an overstretched manager do not necessarily stop with the individual. “If they are frequently overworking, and aren’t taking the downtime they need, then it’s going to have a knock-on impact on their team, and across the business, down the line – presenting through absence, low productivity and morale, and higher turnover,” Hawes warned. “You can have the best strategy, products, or technology but if you don’t look after your people then success simply isn’t sustainable.”
That makes manager wellbeing more than an employee-benefits issue. Managers influence employees’ workload, development, performance, flexibility, recognition, psychological safety and everyday experience of work. If the people responsible for providing that support are themselves exhausted or considering leaving, organisations risk creating a cascading problem across their workforce.
LEADERSHIP PERCEPTION GAP
Hawes also highlighted what Ciphr describes as a significant sentiment gap between junior, middle and senior managers. “It’s in an employer’s interest to understand how their managers are feeling,” she said. “Ciphr’s research identified a significant sentiment gap between junior managers, middle managers and senior managers. Encouraging regular and ongoing feedback from employees of different ages and seniority levels helps organisations see what they are doing right and what they may need to improve.”
That finding reflects a broader leadership perception gap identified in other recent research. The Fair Play Talks investigation into manager readiness found 66% of executive-level people managers considered themselves very ready to lead through future workplace challenges, compared with only 42% of senior and middle managers.
Similarly, 61% of executive managers believed managers received very adequate preparation for difficult conversations, compared with only 38% of senior and middle managers. The recurring message is that senior leadership’s perception of workforce readiness may not always reflect what managers closer to employees are experiencing.
WHAT EMPLOYERS SHOULD DO NEXT
Review the manager’s job, not just the manager
If almost a third of managers consider their workload unmanageable, employers should examine what managers are actually being asked to do. Administrative tasks, unnecessary meetings and bureaucracy should be reviewed alongside team sizes, operational responsibilities and people-management expectations.
Give managers time to manage people
People management should not simply be another responsibility added on top of a full operational workload. Difficult conversations, employee development, performance management, wellbeing support and conflict resolution all require time.
Invest in practical management training
One in five managers specifically wants more leadership and management development. Training should address the situations managers say they find most difficult – including challenging conversations, grievances, disciplinaries, redundancies, conflict, feedback, absence and employee wellbeing.
Give managers the support they need too
Managers supporting employees also need support themselves. HR advice, occupational health, Employee Assistance Programmes, peer networks, coaching and clear escalation routes can help managers navigate situations they should not be expected to resolve alone.
Tackle presenteeism and out-of-hours working
With 60% working evenings or weekends and 40% working through illness, employers should examine whether their culture implicitly rewards overwork. Senior leaders also need to role-model taking leave, disconnecting outside working hours and staying off work when ill.
Listen to managers to identify issues early on
Some 42% of managers have already raised workload concerns and 35% have discussed their stress or wellbeing. Employers should treat those conversations as early-warning signals rather than waiting until an employee resigns. Regular manager listening, pulse surveys and one-to-one conversations can help identify problems earlier.
Remove low-value work
Reducing bureaucracy, unnecessary meetings and administrative work could give managers more time for the part of their job that matters most: managing people. Technology, including AI, may help remove some administrative burden, but organisations should ensure new systems genuinely reduce work rather than simply creating additional processes.
WHY THIS MATTERS FOR RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS
Organisations frequently talk about the importance of good managers. They rely on them to create engagement, support wellbeing, develop talent, manage performance, resolve conflict and translate business strategy into the everyday employee experience. Yet Ciphr’s findings expose an uncomfortable contradiction. Most managers like managing people and believe they are good at it. Most find their work meaningful. And yet one in four regularly thinks about leaving because of the pressure associated with doing it.
That suggests the problem cannot simply be framed as managers lacking resilience or being unsuited to leadership. It raises a more fundamental question about how organisations design management roles. If managers are expected to absorb ever-growing people responsibilities while managing heavy workloads, attending more meetings, completing additional administration and delivering increasingly demanding business targets, eventually something has to give. And when a manager becomes exhausted, disengaged or leaves, the consequences can spread beyond one vacancy.
Their team loses continuity. Employees lose a source of support. Work is redistributed. Other managers may inherit additional responsibilities. And the pressure can begin again elsewhere. The sustainable response therefore isn’t simply teaching managers how to cope with more. It is asking whether they should be expected to carry so much in the first place.
Check out the full report here.
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